Having your own home can help you feel secure and independent.

Home ownership

This is when you own the home you live in, either yourself or with a mortgage. A mortgage is when you borrow money to buy a house and pay the money back over many years. You can also use your savings. You could inherit a home which could be yours alone or it could be left to you and your family.

Shared ownership

This is when a Housing Association owns part of your home and you own the rest. You have to pay rent to the Housing Association for the part you do not own and pay the mortgage for the part you do own.

HOLD

There is a scheme in operation called HOLD that stands for Home Ownership for people with Long-term Disabilities.

This is a way that someone with a disability can own their own home. It is run by some Housing Associations, which are Registered Social Landlords.

The disabled person finds a property they would like to buy. The Housing Association buys the property, so the disabled person only deals with them.

The Housing Association sells part of the property to the disabled person. They might be able to buy more of it in the future.

They rent the other part from the Housing Association, who looks after things like repairs and making sure the property is in good condition.

If you have a disability, the HOLD scheme can help you buy on a shared ownership basis.

You can search on the house shop for properties that are accessible or have disabled access